My Favorite Ways to Get Cheap Books

I love to read and pretty much nothing has stopped me from acquiring books. Once you've had your views altered by a book you almost didn't read, it's hard to say no to anything.

I get most of my books these days for review on this blog or The Friendly Book Nook, but these are some of the other ways I find cheap books!

There are a lot of ways to get cheap books. Most lists like this would probably include the library (which I don't use),used bookstores, and online swapping sites (I've never tried them...they require going to the post office which as winners of my giveways know I'm not good at). But this is about my favorite ways to find books!

1) The cheapest is freecycle. What I love about obtaining books through freecyle is that it's absolutely no risk and you're likely to discover some gems. You might even uncover something rare and out of print! I've had people on freecycle hand over large trashbags full of books or boxes with 40-50 books! (I work in a literacy program and offer them to my students) I discovered Tess Gerritsen, now an auto-buy author for me, through a freecycle donation. Freecycle is easy to use and while most books that I see offered are for adults, people also offer children's books.

2) eBay. I haven't actually bought anything off of eBay for awhile, but there was a time when I could get lots of 7-8 relatively new books for around 10-12 dollars including shipping. In fact, if you are looking for an out of print or newer title sometimes you can find them buried in a lot of other books (although I think eBay has so improved their search functions this sort of find might not be as easy anymore). Additionally, store sellers will often offer books for a cheaper price and combine shipping for you. This makes it a better option than Amazon.

3) CVS/DollarTree/Grocery Store. Often these places will sell books for around 4.99, but that's not what I'm talking about. When they are ready to get rid of their current selection for new titles, they will deeply discount the books. I've bought nice hardcover books from these places for .50-.75 cents.

4) Barnes and Noble Bargain Books. Barnes and Noble has a standard bargain books table where you can find some goodies (hint, you'll often find the hardcovers of that shiny new trade paperback you wanted) but they also have a cart with books that are marked 75 percent off of the already discounted price. I'm a Barnes and Noble member which further sweetens the deal for me.

5) Christianbook.com They have some crazy good deals sometimes. It's a little harder to find Christian fiction at an affordable rate, so CBD is definitely a place to look. Unlike Amazon, they charge for shipping, but it's not over the top. I recommend always checking CBD before Amazon for Christian fiction.

So those are some my tips. I'd love to hear yours, even if you use the library or swapping sites. I also have another great tip for you! Tomorrow I'll be giving away two brand new copies of Gary Chapman's Love as a Way of Life...so come back!

This post is part of Rocks in my Dryer's Works for Me Wednesdays.